Listen&Watch

1
I’ve always hated Starbucks
Amazon, almost as much
If I’m not boycotting at least 3 oil companies
I start to feel out of touch

I wouldn’t be seen in Google Glass or any such
And I hate Wal-Mart
2
I don’t like whips, I don’t like chains
I don’t go choppin up my neighbors’ brains
Don’t really even like shopping
except at the Flea Mart
And I hate Wal-Mart
3
Now you may wonder what’s all this fuss?
If you don’t like the train, take the bus
But I’ve found religion, and just between us
I hate Wal-Mart
4
If you didn’t hear the story, here’s how it is

Big company sells below cost

Drive mom and pop out of biz

Pretty soon all over the land

One big square store, identical brand

And that’s why I hate Wal-Mart
5
Used to be you could drive around

Stop in at three or four towns

Encounter different sights and sounds

Different if not unique

Different accent, different smell

Different things to buy and sell

Now it’s all Taco Bell

I hate Wal-Mart
6
Roads used to dip and wind

You drive slow, relax your mind

Never knew what you’d find

Round the next bend

Now the freeway goes so straight

It’d go right past the Pearly Gate
I don’t feel human, I feel like freight

I hate Wal-Mart
7
I like to roam, I like to greet

Individuals on the street

You always know the one you meet is

One of a kind

But more and more they seem to be

Reflections of something on TV
When we’re all alike, nobody’s free

I hate Wal-Mart
8
I boycott Burger King, I boycott Newt Gingrich
I boycott everything which I’ve seen advertised
I used to go out to dinner in a diner

Now they say fast food is finer

But it tastes like fell out of an airliner

It’s enough to make you weep
9
I don’t like board games

I don’t like brand names

They make inflated claims

They’re full of bleep

Everyone I meet is a high-tech dealer

Wants to sell me a digital potato peeler

At least we’ve still got Garrison Keillor but

But he’s so white
10
Turn on my radio dial
Like to hear somethin’ new once in a while
But it’s the same old crap in a brand new style
Clear Channel, please!
Still I try to pick and choose
Turn the dial but I always lose
They only play the worst rock and roll
And once in a while if you’re lucky one little rhythm and blues
And that’s why God made mp3s.
11
Used to be we wore beads and bells
Made our own clothes in our own way
Now we all wear a uniform says
Hard Rock Cafe
We’re in a state of sartorial decay
And that’s why I hate Wal-Mart
12
If there’s a pretty spot they’ll pave it over

Put a cloverleaf over a four-leaf clover

Black paint on the White Cliffs of Dover

It never fails
They’re bankin’ billions
We make minimum wage
Whole towns closed up, where’s the rage?
Not that I believe in nations per se
But if just might be time
To nationalize Wal-Mart

The other night when we were out bowlin
My buddy says to me
Hey man, what you think about Poland?
Such a sorry sight to see
We got to do what we can
Bout the trouble in Afghanistan
We could bomb the Soviets, but better yet
Let’s bomb Grenada

They are nationalizing everything
I knew it would be this way
They say if you want to make a profit
A greater tax you must pay
We need freedom of investment
Just like we’ve got in Formosa
Maybe we could give Grenada
To Merrill Lynch Pierce Fenner and Somoza

Chorus:
Cut off their aid, cut off their trade
If that don’t persuade em, we got to invade em
Or blockade em, or stockade em
Switchblade em or grenade em
They’re setting a bad example

Star wars are more fun than guerrilla wars, of course
You see, we are Americans so we never like to use force
We’re generous to a fault
But these things get out of hand
Imagine, they want to decide for themselves
Which crops to grow on their land!

The people down there don’t seem to care
I was really quite shocked
They drive into town, take a walk around
Leavin their car door unlocked
This is clearly Communism
So let’s bring in the choppers and tanks
We’ll bring back pluralism
A choice between the IMF and the World Bank
Chorus

I was born in Indiana
Grew up in Kentucky
Don’t know how I survived Chicago
I guess I just got lucky

My oldest brother went to war
Second one went to crime
Youngest went on welfare
And we’re all doin time

I live in a factory
Eight hours every day
I risk my life
And then I die of boredom

I worked for Ford
For fifteen years
Then I got laid off
After the Vietnam War

We lost incentive
We used to be so proud
So patriotic, but now I wonder
What for!

Chorus:
Keep on a-workin, that’s what they told me
Later I found out somebody sold me
Keep on a-workin, everything’ll be ok
But you know sometimes I’m a-thinkin
There’s bound to be a better way

I used to go out and give some hell
To the demonstrators
I used to go out and yell
Why don’t you all get a job!

Then I got laid off,
Went down to the food stamp office
Now I’m a welfare bum
Myself

They were shoutin the streets
We were rippin off the people overseas
Companies would pay a dollar a day
For what they couldn’t steal

I was paid all right
Yeah, they kept me on their side
And in my pride I said “We’re the best
That’s how I feel!”

But now they’re movin the factories
Yeah, they’re movin em overseas
Cause there’s so much competition
And we’ve fallen to our knees

Must be bad over there
If it’s like this over here
Now I can’t even buy the things
I’ve made for all these years

Chorus
Yeah the company hit the skids
There’s been layoffs left and right
To throw away a worker
Is such a waste

I’ve got feelings
Hell, I’ve even got expenses
I think it’s the company
That should be replaced

And they say I’m not tryin
That I’m not even buyin
The economy is dyin
And it’s all because of me

When I was young
I learned that anyone
Can get ahead, if somebody don’t make it
It’s cause he didn’t try

I was told I had a place assured
Looks like they told me wrong
They were wrong about it
But still they lie:
Chorus